Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Due to traveling & such,we haven't entered the Royal Foodie Joust in a couple of months but we were very inspired by this month's ingredients; apple, maple syrup & cayenne pepper. We had a lot of ideas for pies & donuts but then we heard about the Apple Bliss Blucy at the Blue Door Pub in St. Paul. The Blue Door does some really interesting takes on the classic Minneapolis Juicy Lucy & this version stuffed with brie & topped with apple compote was only available for one day. We couldn't make it there that day so decided to put our own spin on it at home.In our version the beef is flavored with a little maple syrup & then stuffed with brie. The apple compote is spiced up with cayenne, sweetened with maple syrup plus given a little saltiness with some bacon. Put it all together & you really have an amazing flavor combination. The apples go surprisingly well with the beef.We'd never stuffed a burger with brie before & it tended to leak out a lot more than others we've tried. It infuses the beef with the flavor but isn't overwhelming. If you want the brie flavor to stand out a little more just put slices of it on top of the cooked burger & then top with compote. We also think cheddar cheese would be fabulous with this flavor combination instead of the brie.

Place all ingredients, except bacon, in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Cook, stirring frequently, until the apples are soft & most of the liquid is gone. Mash with a potato masher or spoon. Stir in bacon.

Brie Stuffed Maple Burger

12 oz lean ground beef1 T maple syrupsalt & pepper2 oz brie, chilled in the freezer for at least an hour (this will make it easier to slice)

Mix the beef, maple syrup & salt & pepper to taste together with your hands, do not over work. Divide into 4 equal pieces & make into patties.

Cut the brie into slices, removing the rind if you wish.

Place the brie slices on the middle of two patties. Top with the other two patties. Press the edges together to seal.Heat a griddle over medium-high heat. Cook the burgers for about 10 minutes per side. You want to get a good crust on the burgers (Matt says a nice crust is the sign of a good Juicy Lucy) & for the cheese to melt. (Some of the cheese will melt out but the flavor will infuse the whole burger.)Top the burgers with the spicy apple bacon compote & serve on a multi-grain bun.

21 comments:

Ok I have no clue why I never thought of double patties. When I stuff burgers I just form a big ball of meat and shove the cheese in the middle of the ball and flatten around. Grr....almost seems to easy now.

Definitely blown away by this one! Apple Bacon Compote? Oh wow, that sounds amazing! My mom used to always make Greek burgers filled with cheddar cheese and garlic powder. That is no where close to being Greek (at least as far as I know) so I have no idea how they got the name. Ha, ha! They were good though and I would imagine even better with brie!